Car-wheel mounting.



W.' L. WEBER. CAR WHEEL MOUNTING. APPLICATION FILEDJULY 11.1918.

' ,285,5Q. Patented Nov. 19, 1918.

narran srn'rns ra'rnnr onirica WILLIAM L. WEBER, OF TAYLORVILLE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 RAILWAY AN D MINE SUPPLY COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

CAR-WHEEL MOUNTING.

Application filed July 11, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. WEBER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Taylorville, in the county of Christian and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Wheel Mountings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the general art of railway cars, and has reference more particularly to mine cars. Owing to the sharp curves of the tracks on which mine cars travel7 it is necessary to mount the wheels of mine cars rotatably upon the axles, and further to provide means for preventing endwise displacement of the wheels from the axles. In one type of mine cars the wheel is attached to the axle, and in another the wheel is-attached to the bearing box of the axle. My present invention relates to cars of the latter type, and among the objects of the invention are to provide an improved means for attaching the wheel tothe bearing box that shall permit the wheel to be readily removed when necessary without disturbing either the axle or the bearing box; to provide such an attaching means which shall have the further function of protecting the joint between the wheel hub and the bearing box from dust and dirt; and to provide an improved means for holding a lubricant and distributing the same to the wheel bearings.

Other objects andv advantages of the invention lwill be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which I have illustrated al practical and workableembodiment of the invention, and wherein- Figure 1 is a vertical section through the bearing boxes and wheels of a mine car in the plane of the axis of the axle, the figure being broken out between its ends;

Figs. 2 and 3 are transverse sections on the lines 2-#2 and 33 of Fig. 1, respectively;

Fig. 4 is a detail elevation of one of the detachable devices for locking the wheel to the bearing box and protecting the joint between said parts;

Fig, 5 is a fragmentary view of a modified form of end thrust washer; and

Fig. 6 is a face view, and Fig. 7 an en Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 19, 1918.

seriai no. 244,343.

larged section on line 7-7 of Fig. 6 of another modified form of end thrust washer.

Referring tothe drawings, 5 designates the Hoor of the car body, to the underside of which 'are strongly secured by bolts G (Fig, 3) a pair of oppositely disposed bearing boxes 7 which are formed with axially alined bearing openings 8 which receive the axle 9. Between the inner opposed ends of the bearing boxes 7, and connecting the latter, is a tubular member l0, the axis of which preferably, and as shown, coincides with the axis of the bearing openings 8 and the axle 9. This tubular member 10 constitutes an oil receptacle or holder, and as herein shown its two ends are entered into the proximate ends of the bearing boxes for some distance, and to provide a strong and rigid connection the ends of the members 10 are threaded, as shown at 10, or otherwise roughened, and the bearing boxes 7 are cast thereon. The walls of thek bearing openings 8 of the boxes 7 are provided with one or more longitudinally extending grooves 11, located at the bottom of the box or in any other desirable position, the inner ends of which communicate with the oil holder. 10, and the outer ends of which open through the outer ends orfaces of the bearing boxes 7.

On they projecting ends of the axle 9 are roller bearings l2 carried by cages 13 and surrounded by a hardened steel bushing 14 which latter fits within the hub 15 of the wheel 15, it being noted that the outer end of the hub is closed by' a transverse wall 16. Between the inner end of the hub 15 and the outer end of the bearing box 7 are interposed a plurality of metal washers 17 which receive the wear of the end thrust of the hub; and encircling the axle 9 within the washers 17 is another metal washer 18 which, as best shown in Fig.\ 2', is preferably of substantially rectangular external form so as to leave spaces or openings 19 between its outer periphery and the inner periphery of the washers 17 for the iow of oil to the latter and to the bearings of the wheel. This provision for oil iow contributes greatly to the smooth and prolonged successful operation of the wheel.

Furthermore, this square washer serves to maintain the thrust washers in operative position always outside the perimeter of the ball bearing cage 13 and since the4 aggregate thickness of the vthrust washers is greater than the thickness of the square washer, any liability of end thrust being imparted to the cages, such as would tend to bind, twist or distort the cages is entirely obviated by the square washer.

Secured to the inner side of the wheel 15, preferably by `means of through-boltsf20, is a locking member which takes the form of a ring 21 made in mating halves and provided with radial attaching lugs 22 through which the bolts 2O pass and with an in-turned flange 23. This flange 23 overlaps an annu# lar shoulder 24 that is formed on the outer end of the bearing box 7, so that the wheel is thereby securely locked to the bearing box against endwise displacement from the axle. At the same time the body of the ring 2l constitutes a housing which completely covers the joint between the hub and the bearing box and protects the same from the entrance of dust, dirt and other foreign matter that is readily attracted by the oil flowing across said .joint to the washers and roller bearings.

It should be observed at this point that the bolts 20 pass through the spokes of the wheel so as to offer no obstruction to spragging as customarily practised in the mines. Spragging is further facilitated by the rounded formation of the outer end ofthe hub and the spaces between the spokes, as will be 'evident from the drawings.

'Ihe'tubular oil container 10 is'provided, between the inner endsv of the bearing box 7, with an opening 25 closed by a plug 26, through which lubricant may be supplied by withdrawing the plug and attaching the nozzle of an oil canor grease gun. The oil or grease flows readily through the grooves .or ducts 11 to the outer ends of the bearing boxes, flowing thence through the spaces 19 between the inner and outer washers to the roller bearings of the wheel and at the same time thoroughly lubricating the washers themselves, thereby reducing the wear of said parts which are subjected to the end thrusts of the hub and roller bearings.

In the form of end thrust washers shown in Fig. 5 the two outer washers 17 are of hardened steel while the intermediate one 17 is equipped with hardened balls 27 projecting beyond the outer faces of the washer so as to be engaged by the'other washers thereby affording a ball bearing end thrust bearing. Instead of using a plurality of washers to take the end thrust, I may use a single washer 28 (Figs. 6 and 7) formed with holes 29 and with oil ways or channels 31 leading from the inner periphery of the washer on both sides of the latter to said holes for the purpose of distributing lubricant. Obviously other arrangements of thrust bearing might be resorted to to secure the same results.

With further reference to the .tubular member or pipe 10, it is noted that not only does the annular space between the axle and the pipe provide an oil reservoir but said pipe maintains alinement between the bearing boxes and the wheel bearings, imparts great rigidity to the structure, and prevents the bending of the axle which is a most common trouble in coal mine pit cars.

It is believed that the foregoing description, in connection with the drawings, will make clear to those familiar with this art how the stated objects and advantages of the invention are obtained in the structure illustrated and described. Manifestly changes in the detail structure and arrangement of the parts may be made without altering the substanti-al character of the invention or sacriiicing any of the advantages thereof, and hence I reserve all such variations and modifications as fall within -the spirit and purview of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a car wheel mounting, the combination of an axle, an axle bearing-box formed with an annular shoulder, a wheel mounted on said axle, a locking member carried by said wheel and formed with a flange overlapping said shoulder and coperating with the latter toprevent displacement of said wheel endwise of said axle and means accessible on the outer face of the wheel for detachably securing said locking member to the'wheel.l 1

2. In a car wheel mounting, the combination of an axle, an axle bearing-box formed with an lannular shoulder, a .wheel mounted on said axle, a locking ring detachably secured to the inner side of said wheel and formed with an in-turned flange overlapping said shoulder and Ia thrust washer be- Jtween the wheel hub and the bearing box for preventing end thrust on said axle.

3. In a car wheel mounting, the combination of an axle, an axle bearing-box formed with an annular shoulder, a wheel mounted on said axle, a locking ring `formed in mating halves each provided with'an inturned flange overlapping said shoulder, and througlrbolts securing said locking ring to the inner side of said wheel and accessible for detachment from the outer face of the wheel.

4. In a car wheel mounting, the combination of an axle bearing-box, an axle mounted therein and having -a proj eeting end, a wheel having a hub surrounding the projecting end lof said axle, roller bearings between said hub and axle, an annular washer between the inner end of said hub and the opposed end. of-said bearing-box, and another washer encircling said shaft within said annular washer and lying between the inner end'of said roller bearings and the `opposed end of said bearing-bo 5. In a ear wheel mounting, the combination of a bearing-box, van axle mounted in said bearing-box and projecting beyond the outer end of `the latter, a wheel having its hub journaled on the projecting end of said axle, a plurality of washers encircling said axle between the innei` end of said hub and the outer end of said bearing-box and a -polygonal washer interposed between said Washers and said axle.

6. In a car wheel mounting, the combination of a bearing-box, an axle extending therethrough, a wheel ournaled on said axle, roller bearings interposed between said wheel and said axle, a thrust device interposed between the end of said axle and the inner end of the wheel hub, and a washer of less thickness than said thrust device encircling said axle in longitudinal alinement with said roller bearing and serving to maintain said thrust device in position.

7 In a car wheel mounting, the combination of a bearing-box, an axle extending therethrough, a wheel journaled on said axle, roller bearings interposed between said wheel and axle, a thrust device disposed between the wheel hub and said bearing-box, and means carried by said axle for maintaining said thrust device out of alinement with said roller bearing.

8. In a car wheel mounting, the combination of a bearing box, an axle disposed therein, a wheel mounted upon roller bearings upon said axle, a thrust device interposed between said bearing box and said wheel hub, and means for maintaining said thrust device out of longitudinal alinement with said roller bearings to prevent end thrust from being exerted on said roller bearings.

9. In a car wheel mounting, the combina.- tion of a pair of bearing-boxes alined to receive an axle, an axle extending therethrough, a metal pipe rigidly connected at each end to said boxes to maintain the same in alinement, wheels mounted upon said axle outside said boxes, and means interposed between said wheels and their boxes whereby end thrust of the wheels is transmitted to the rigidly connected boxes and is prevented from being transmitted to said axle.

WILLIAM L. WEBER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

